Hollyford Track guided walks are located within the spectacular scenery of the Hollyford Valley which marks the northern most boundary of New Zealand’s largest national park - Fiordland National Park. Fiordland National Park in turn forms part of the larger Te Wāhipounamu - Southwest New Zealand World Heritage Area.

Remote and dramatic, the Hollyford Valley begins among the sheer rock walls of the Darran Mountains and runs from the base of the Southern Alps to the Tasman Sea. It contains two main lakes, Alabaster and McKerrow with the latter having the site of the now abandoned Jamestown which was established in 1870 as an intended major shipping port. The forest is a mix of native lowland species and there are views of Fiordland’s largest two peaks Tūtoko and Madeline. The remote and often wild coastline is inhabited by native New Zealand Fur Seals and rare Fiordland Crested Penguins. The mix of spectacular scenery and amazing native animals make the Hollyford Track one of Fiordlands must things to do.

The Hollyford Valley is a classic glacial carved U shaped valley and was formed by the action of a huge glacier about 20,000 years ago. The only remnant of this once massive glacier is the Donne Glacier on the eastern face of Mt Tūtoko. Originally a fiord, the Hollyford became a valley when Lake McKerrow was formed and cut off from the sea by sedimentary deposits at Martins Bay.

The lowland forests, rivers, lakes, estuary and coast of the valley provide habitats for birds and animals. The main forest is Silver Beech with Kāmahi, Kahikatea, Mataī and Rimu. The forested areas have a rich understory of Coprosmas, Wineberry, Fuchsia and Pepperwood, with abundant ferns, mosses and lichens.

Small birds; Tomtit, Robin, Brown Creeper, Bellbird, Grey Warbler, Fantail, Rifleman and Silver Eye are still common in many areas in spite of introduced predators. The large forest parrot, the Kākā, is a feature of the valley, often calling at dusk.

Kererū, the native wood pigeon, can be seen when Kōwhai and other blooms and fruit are available. Rātā and flax attract the honey eaters, Tūī and Bellbird. Fiordland Crested Penguins nest in scrub and rocks near Long Reef where there is a New Zealand Fur Seal colony. Fern-birds live in areas of swamp and scrub scattered through the valley, while Bitterns hide in reeds at Martins Bay. Occasionally the Kōtuku, or White Heron, winters over at the bay. Ducks, shags, gulls and terns can be seen in the Hollyford estuary and schools of dolphins regularly visit the lake. The rare Pekapeka or native Short Tail Bat is present but not common.

Stepping into the dramatic Hollyford Valley is like entering a world that’s remained largely unchanged for thousands of years. Geologically spectacular and ever changing, the sheer diversity of vegetation and wildlife in this one valley is truly unparalleled and makes for an utterly amazing guided walk.

Fiordland National Park was established in 1952, though land that later became part of the park was set aside as early as 1904. It is New Zealand’s largest national park covering a vast and remote wilderness area of 1.2 million hectares, making it one of the largest national parks in the world.

Altitudes are highest in the northern area of the park; the highest peak is within the Darran Mountain range with Mt Tūtoko at 2746m. The underlying rock of the park is mostly granite, gneiss and diorite. These igneous rocks are among the oldest in New Zealand (mostly Ordovician) and are also among the hardest and most resistant to erosion. Thus they have remained almost unchanged since latest ice ages, when an ice cap was covering the mountain areas of Fiordland.

The glacier tongues that flowed from it gouged the 14 fiords that fringe the southwest seaward edge of Fiordland National Park. Shaped like massive knife cuts into the land these fiords were carved during successive ice ages and were 100,000 years in the making, the final details added during the most recent ice age just 10,000 years ago. On all sides of the fiords, spectacular waterfalls tumble incessantly as the region's plentiful rainfall finds its way to the sea.

Fiordland is subjected to very high annual rainfall due to the prevailing westerly weather pattern which is characteristic of the west coast of the South Island. Milford Sound received an annual average of 6526mm annually over the period 1969-1998, spread over 180 days of rain per year. Temperatures are mild, at least at low altitude: at Milford Sound, over the same period, mean maximum temperature in summer (January) was 18.8 C, against mean minimum temperature of 1.3 C in winter (July).

Not only did glacial action create the fiords but it also created the great lakes of Te Anau, Manapouri, Hauroko, Monowai, Poteriteri, and Hakapoua. These lakes match the fiords symmetrically on the eastern and southern margins of the park, the result being a combination of deep valleys, sheer rock faces sometimes over 1500m high, and extremely steep slopes. Both the fiords and the lakes are in places over 400m deep and the bottom of the lakes is well below sea level.

The remaining two thirds of Fiordland National Park is a primeval world of mountain peaks covered by virgin beech and podocarp forest, alpine lakes and moss-carpeted valleys, and it has remained wild and largely untouched due to it being mountainous and an extremely rugged land. The variety of habitats in Fiordland allow a diverse range of flora and fauna to thrive and its isolation has encouraged endemism with over 700 plants found only in Fiordland and it is, or was, home to some of the strangest of New Zealand's birds.

Fiordland is home to the only wild population of Takahē in New Zealand, a large flightless bird thought to be extinct until rediscovered in 1948. It is also the only South Island habitat of the endangered Brown Teal and was also the final refuge of the world’s only flightless parrot, the nocturnal Kākāpo. A recovery project for these unique birds is now under way on a number of pest free offshore islands. Fiordland also remains a stronghold for several other endangered species such as the Brown Kiwi, South Island Kaka, Yellow Crowned Parakeet, Weka, New Zealand Falcon, Mohua or Yellowhead and the threatened Blue Duck. More common forest birds are well represented and include Grey Warbler, Silver Eye, South Island Tomtit, South Island Rifleman, South Island Fantail, Brown Creeper, Bellbird, Tūī and native wood pigeon Kererū. Keas and Rock Wrens are found above the bush line, although flocks of young Keas are often seen in the Homer Tunnel area. Fiordland's many waterways provide habitat for many aquatic bird species, including Paradise Shelducks, New Zealand Scaup, Grey Duck, and New Zealand Shoveler.

The fiords provide habitat for a variety of seabirds, including shags, Broad-Billed Prions and Mottled Petrels, gulls, Oyster Catchers, and penguins. Albatross rarely enter the fiords but can be seen off the coast, where there is a major colony of Southern Buller's Mollymawks. Sooty Shearwaters migrate in their millions from the North Pacific to Fiordland to breed. The Fiordland Crested Penguin, one of the world's rarest species of penguin, and the Blue Penguin, the world's smallest penguin, are both found in Fiordland.

Marine mammals are found extensively in Fiordland with pods of Bottlenose and Dusky Dolphins found in the fiords and Common and Hector's Dolphins mostly outside the fiords. Humpback, Sperm and Southern Right Whale have been sighted off the coast, as well as Orca. New Zealand Fur Seals are by far the most common seal species in Fiordland but Southern Sea Elephants come ashore occasionally, as do Leopard Seals. Hooker's Sea Lions are re-establishing themselves on mainland New Zealand, albeit in small numbers.

Recognition of the outstanding natural values of Fiordland and surrounding areas was recognised globally in December 1990 with it being appointed ‘World Heritage’ status by UNESCO, and the formation of Te Wāhipounamu – Southwest New Zealand World Heritage Area. ‘World Heritage’ is a global concept that identifies natural and cultural sites of world significance - places so special that protecting them is of concern to all people.

Te Wāhipounamu - Southwest New Zealand World Heritage Area is comprised of 3 national parks – Fiordland, Mt. Aspiring and Westland National Parks and combined the larger Te Wāhipounamu - Southwest New Zealand World Heritage Area encompasses 10% of New Zealand’s land area at 2.6 million hectares. Te Wāhipounamu translates in Maori to ‘Place of Greenstone’ and was given this name in recognition of the great cultural significance of the area to Maori.

This region is unique and very special as one of only a few ‘World Heritage’ areas globally protecting a natural heritage site; others include Mt. Everest, the Grand Canyon and Great Barrier Reef. The vast majority of ‘World Heritage’ areas protect cultural heritage sites such as the Taj Mahal, Pyramids of Giza, Stonehenge, and the Great Wall of China.

Te Wāhipounamu – Southwest New Zealand World Heritage Area is an area where snow-capped mountains, rivers of ice, deep lakes, unbroken forests and tussock grasslands produce a landscape of exceptional beauty. Some of the best examples of landforms, animals and plants, which were once found on the ancient super-continent of Gondwanaland, still exist here. The main reason this area has been granted ‘World Heritage’ status is due mainly to its unique ancient ecology and geographical features that date back prior to New Zealand's continental drift 80 million years ago, to a time when it was part of the super continent Gondwanaland. It is regarded as amongst the finest examples of glaciated landforms and one of the great wilderness areas of the Southern Hemisphere.

Gondwanaland was located around the Antarctica region and was a massive land area made up of Australia, India, Africa, South America and New Zealand. Over millions of years these land masses broke away to become the separate countries and regions they are today and New Zealand in particular has remained relatively unchanged since that time and is in a very real sense the ‘Ark’ of Gondwanaland.

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